The Girl with the Shield Tattoo
by centerstagex11
Summary: During the battle in Manhattan, Captain America saves a girl with a very interesting tattoo on her wrist that leaves him wanting to know more. With the help of a fellow Avenger he may get the answers to the questions he's looking for. Takes place as everyone watches Thor and Loki leave.


Steve watched as Thor twisted the handle on the tesseract container sending he and Loki back to Asgard. He said his goodbyes to Clint, Natasha and watched them drive off in Natasha's black S.H.I.E.L.D car. He said a goodbye to both Tony and Bruce and head over to his motorcycle.

"Steve, wait!" He heard yelled behind him.

He turned and saw Tony walking towards him holding a file folder.

"Here." Tony said, handing the file in Steve's direction.

"What's this?" Steve said eyeing the folder curiously.

"That girl you pulled out of the flipped over SUV. I don't know what she said to you, but it had to be something important. I saw the look on your face, it was like you saw a ghost. I had Jarvis do a little research and she is in NYU Medical Center. Do with it what you want." Tony says.

Steve studied Tony's face unsure if he was serious or not, considering it wasn't in Tony's character to do something nice for other people.

"Just take the folder, Rogers. It isn't going to kill you." Tony says, "Don't say I never did anything for you."

Steve chuckled and took the folder from Tony and shook his hand.

"I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again." Steve said.

He turned to his bike and sat down rifling through the file Tony gave him.

He remembered the girl Tony was talking about. It was in the midst of the battle in Manhattan, after Steve had knocked out a few aliens he heard a girl screaming for help from a flipped over SUV. Steve broke the window of the SUV with his shield and gently pulled the girl out to safety. She was blond and in her 20's.

She was going in and out of continuousness as Steve held her in his arms trying to find a paramedic. The girl was trying to say something, but the accident must have taken such a tole on her she didn't have the energy to form the words.

"You're going to be okay, Ma'am." He told her, as he spotted an ambulance.

"C-Cap." She muttered, and it stopped Steve dead in his tracks.

"T-thank you Captain America." She said, giving Steve a weak smile.

As Steve handed her over to the paramedics, she pulled up the sleeve on her right arm revealing a tattoo. When he saw the tattoo it was like he got a swift punch in the gut because it reminded him of Bucky and Peggy. The tattoo was of Steve's shield, but not the shield he used today. Rather, the shield he used back in the '40s during all those shows selling war bonds and the shield he used when he saved Bucky. Along the border of the shield had "Captain America" written in script.

Who was this girl? Why did she have his shield tattooed on her wrist? Clearly, she was too young to even know about Steve and Captain America. Steve hadn't met anyone who knew him they way he was known back then. He had to find out who this girl was.

Steve shoved the file into the inside of his jacket and decided to drive off to NYU Medical Center. When he arrived at the hospital he parked his bike in the garage and went to the front desk.

"Hello." Steve said, approaching the young girl on the phone behind the counter.

"Hold on one second." She says into the receiver.

She presses a few buttons on the phone and places it down.

"Hi, I'm sorry! We've been crazy around here since the attacks. How can I help you?" She says smiling at him.

"I was wondering if you would be able to direct me to the direction of Katie Paterson's room?" He asked smiling, exuding all the politeness and charm that Steve has.

"Absolutely!" The girl said clicking a few buttons on her keyboard.

After a few moments, she prints out a paper and hands it to Steve.

"Katie Paterson, room 416 on the fourth floor." She says.

Steve takes the paper from her, "Thank you, ma'am."

The girl behind the counter giggles girlishly and watches as Steve disappears down the hallway. He enters into the elevator and presses the button for floor 4. The elevator lurches upward and Steve grabs onto the railing on the inside. He has yet to get used to elevators, Steve doesn't exactly trust them especially when they are old.

The elevator dings on the fourth floor and he steps out into the hallway checking the signs on the wall for the direction to walk. As he approaches room 416, he started to run through in his head what he wanted to say or do. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he wasn't sure what the answer was to either.

When he got to the door he took a deep breath and focused. He even laughed at himself for how nervous he was. He's fought tons of enemies and had been in situations tougher then this, but he's nervous to talk to a young girl.

Steve knocked on the door to the hospital room.

"Come in!" A voice says inside.

When Steve enters the room he notices the TV playing snippets of The Avengers during battle. Suddenly there is a close up of his face on the TV and he hears the girl in the bed let out a small gasp.

"Oh my God." She says, "Captain America."

Steve turns around and smiles at the young girl. She looks better than she did when he pulled her out of the flipped over SUV. The cuts on her face have started to heal, but her one hand is in a brace. The hand with the tattoo however, is lying freely on her bed.

"I'm sorry to disturb you ma'am, but I-"

"No, no please sit down." Katie says cutting Steve off, motioning to the chair at the end of her bed.

Katie and Steve sit in silence for a while either of them unsure what to say.

"I...um... never got the chance to properly thank you for saving me." Katie says, a small smile plays on her lips.

"It's no problem, Ma'am. I was just doing my job." Steve says, smiling.

"It's Katie." She says.

She stares at Steve in awe, and she certainly can't deny the charisma and energy that just seems to be radiating off of him as he sits in her room. Just like what she had heard in all those stories for so many years.

"What can I help you with Captain America?" She says.

"It's Steve." He says, "The tattoo you have, it has a very significant meaning to me. And, there is not many people now-a-days that know me by Captain America-"

"Especially, at my age?" Katie asks, giggling.

"Yeah." Steve replies.

"You're kind of a household name around my family, Captain. Uhh-Steve...sorry. My grandfather was in the army during WWII, he was sent on a mission that went awry and was captured. He was a part of the group of men you rescued on your first solo mission. For years, we heard stories about the great Captain America that had rescued him and how great Captain America was." She pauses, and looks at Steve, "When my grandpa heard through his long line of contacts that Captain America may have been found in a block of ice and was alive. I knew if I ever got the chance to meet him I would thank him for what he did for my family."

Katie takes a breath and pushes back the tears that have sprung into her eyes "My grandpa and I were very close and when he passed away I wanted to do something that honored both my grandpa and the man that saved him. So, I got your shield tattooed on my wrist."

She smiles and stretches her arm out to show Steve a better look at her wrist. Steve moved forward to look at the tattoo, and Katie could see all the emotion on Steve's face as he looked at her tattoo.

"Why did you decide to go with this shield instead of that one?" Steve says, pointing to the TV showing a shot of him with Thor as he throws his shield at one of the aliens.

"This one just spoke to me more. In the pictures I was shown when I was younger, you always had this shield. So, I guess for me this is how I know Captain America." She smiles, "My Grandpa also knew your friend James. Bucky I think he always called him. He would always tell my grandpa about the relationship you two had. Bucky was really proud of you."

Steve sat back in his chair again, and Katie could see sadness on his face. The memory of losing Bucky seemed like it happened yesterday. Well, considering he was frozen for 70 years for Steve it was almost like it happened yesterday. But, knowing the memory of Bucky had lived on through other people gave Steve a strange sense of comfort.

"I'm sorry for your loss, by the way." Katie says smiling.

Steve sits in silence for a while, processing what has just happened.

"Well, thank you for your time Katie. I will let you rest." Steve says, pushing up from his chair.

"Wait!" Katie exclaims, "I know you must not have much family around anymore or if you just need a friend Captain America is always welcome at our house."

"Thank you, Katie. I may take you up on that." Steve says, smiling.

As Steve leaves the hospital and heads back to his bike he can't help, but notice the small amount of actual happiness that he hasn't felt in a while.

* * *

**A/N: Hey Everyone! This is my first Avengers/Cap piece. I hope you like it. It was a little something I came up with after I rewatched Avengers and Cap:The First Avenger. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!**

**xoxo,**  
**centerstagex11**


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